


When All Is Said and Done

by whenisayvolyousaytronvol



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, One Shot, btw this is set at the end of the series like after they save earth and stuff, i thought of this and just had to write it down i dunno, im literally writing this fic as im writing these tags so everything is out of order sorry, sorry if this has been done before, the others are kinda mentioned, theyre in the background, this is my first fic idk what to do lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 09:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15409641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whenisayvolyousaytronvol/pseuds/whenisayvolyousaytronvol
Summary: “So, I was wondering if you maybe… wanted to hang out sometime. Just the two of us.”--After the war is over, Lance decides he wants to be even closer to Keith.





	When All Is Said and Done

Everything was over.

The paladins of Voltron had arrived on Earth looking for some degree of salvation and rest. Shiro's soul had been ejected from the Black Lion and back into his body, Keith had recently returned from the Blade of Marmora with his long-lost mother, and Allura had just found the wound from where Lotor had stabbed her in the back for thousands of years after she received news that he had harvested quintessence from a large colony of her own species - a species that was presumed to be almost entirely extinct. Then, the team had to sacrifice their beloved home to fix a universe-threatening problem the same Lotor had created in his thirst for power.

They all needed a break. So it was understandable that the whole team was frustrated when they discovered that the Galra had already invaded Earth.

Lance had been especially miffed by this. He had never wanted the phrase ‘Sun’s Out Guns Out’ to be used in a literal sense. Yet, almost from the moment they landed on the planet, the paladins had to go in guns blazing.

Again, literally.

Still, when the battle was done, he didn’t exactly know what to do with himself. All the options were overwhelming. Fighting had become his life for the past…

Lance found that he couldn’t remember when exactly they had gone through that first wormhole in the Blue Lion. A lot had happened since they’d been introduced to Allura and Coran.

Despite his many advances, his relationship with Allura remained strictly platonic. When she politely rejected him after hearing about his feelings (thanks to those meddling space mice) it hurt, but for some reason, he hadn’t been very surprised. He had thought the world would come crashing down around him if he got rejected by her. However, according to the people around him, he had taken the news surprisingly well. In the aftermath, Lance himself felt that it could’ve gone worse.

It was almost as if some part of him knew all along that she would never see him as more than a friend. Even if she had accepted his feelings, they wouldn’t have been able to stay together for long - Allura would want to stay in space to keep a close eye on the Altean colony, and Lance, of course, would yearn to remain on Earth. It never would’ve worked. Knowing this didn’t stop the slight stinging sensation he would feel in his heart when he looked at her in the months following.

After some time, though, he got over it. He flirted with aliens (because that was something everyone expected him to do) but something felt off the entire time, like there was something in the deep recesses of his mind nagging him over and over again. He couldn’t stop his mind from wandering to that one person. The one that always kept him on his toes and challenged him to push himself further for the sake of proving a point. Every friendly banter with them sent him toppling over the edge into something he didn’t know the name of.

Keith.

He couldn’t place exactly when or how it had started, but he found himself thinking of the other paladin more. He thought that maybe Keith wasn’t such a bad person after all. He wondered what it would be like to grow closer to him. He wanted to know why he wore those gloves and that godawful fanny pack. Why he was so closed off from the others. Why _Keith_ was _Keith_.

(He didn’t even bat an eye the first time he wondered what it would be like to hold his hand.)

Then there was the staring. Lance had been told multiple times by different people that he had been looking intently at Keith, like he was waiting for him to do something suspicious or noteworthy. And every time someone brought it up to him, it was like he was coming out of a trance, as if he had been hypnotized by the former pilot of the Red Lion. Often, he didn’t even realize he was doing it.

Others recognized the signs before he did. Pidge informed him that he seemed like he was ‘hardcore pining’ for Keith. He stuck his tongue out at her as Hunk laughed and agreed with her, but then Lance really started to consider it.

Could he like Keith? It seemed impossible to him at first. There was no way he could be in love with his rival. Another guy, no less. So why did he find himself awake at night thinking about him? Why were the things he felt so similar to the feelings he had experienced when he was chasing after Allura, yet so different in a way he couldn’t explain?

Upon asking Shiro (making it clear that he was ‘asking for a friend’ - Shiro raised an eyebrow at that, but gestured for him to continue nonetheless) he found that he was experiencing was… okay. Lance discovered that the older paladin had been close to having a husband back on Earth. He didn’t even know that was an option.

After much internal struggle, he realized that he probably DID like Keith in that way. And he immediately spiraled into what could only be described as a bi panic.

He could not let himself do this. He would just be rejected all over again, and this time he had a feeling that he would not recover. It couldn’t be that hard to bottle feelings up forever.

 

 

Then again, if that was the truth, why and how did he find himself standing in front of Keith, examining the cracks in the ground below his shuffling feet?

“Yeah?” He looked up to find Keith’s inquisitive gaze trained on him. When did his eyes get so shiny and purple? It was like he had eternal puppy dog eyes. It wasn’t fair.

Lance definitely felt that he and Keith had grown closer. It was a bit of an obligation to have a bond with a person after being stuck in space fighting a war side by side with them for years. They were close enough for it to not be a strange occurrence when Lance sauntered up to Keith to talk to him when they were standing outside of the Galaxy Garrison post-war. Still, he couldn’t help but feel nervous.

“You said you wanted to talk to me?” Oh. Lance had said that already, hadn’t he? “Uh, yeah. Actually, I was wondering if…” He trailed off, choosing instead to study the desolate landscape that surrounded the Galaxy Garrison.

Keith narrowed his eyes, clearly running out of patience. “If what? I don’t have all day, Lance.”

Lance froze. What had he been thinking? He was setting himself up for a stone cold rejection.

“Are you okay? Do you want me to get a nurse?” Lance rapidly shook his head as if he were a shaggy dog shaking water off of itself. “No, no, I’m fine, really!” He put on a wide grin that he hoped would convince himself as well as Keith that he really was all right.

“Really? You don’t look fine.”

“Keith, my man, I assure you that I am absolutely okay. One hundred percent,” he said, making an ‘OK’ sign with his fingers.

Keith slightly rolled his eyes and poorly disguised a giggle as a scoff. “Whatever you say.”

They stood in silence for a few seconds, looking out across the desert wasteland. Lance contemplated whether he could really do this. Would he hesitate to rip his guts out if he screwed this up? Knowing him, probably not.

Then Keith looked at him once more and he knew he didn’t have another option. He wouldn’t need Keith to destroy him, his own feelings would tear apart his insides if he didn’t say something already.

“What did you want to ask me?” He took a deep breath. He was the Lance McClain, lover boy and sharpshooter extraordinaire. Anyone would be lucky to have him. He could do this.

“Well.” Strong start. “Since this whole fighting evil aliens thing is kinda over with, I don’t really know where to go. But I have this gut feeling… Like at least two of us need to stick together after being so-” He clasps his fingers together in an attempt to bring some movement into the proposition. Smooth. “-in sync for so long. It just wouldn’t be right not to keep in touch,” he said, shrugging. “And I feel like we’ve grown the most out of all of our teammates. I mean, Hunk and Pidge have always been best friends in a really nerdy, techy kinda way, and you and Shiro grew up together. But we’re different. We grew together.” Too sappy. _Get to the point_ , he thought to himself.

But Keith was nodding, so he must have been doing something right. “That’s true.”

Lance cleared his throat. He was ready for the big reveal. “So, I was wondering if you maybe… wanted to hang out sometime. Just the two of us,” he clarified, not meeting the other’s eyes. He had a feeling that if he even saw his face he would combust into flames and his soul would be forcefully yeeted into the atmosphere. “Anywhere you want. Just to, y’know. Get to know each other even more.”

Keith was silent for a minute, and Lance had never been so petrified by pure silence before. Fearing for his well-being, he quickly glanced at him to gauge his reaction. To his utter disbelief, Keith was smiling. He had a twinkle in his eye. Not a dangerous ‘I’m going to sacrifice you and your entire family to Satan for a single Frosted Mini Wheat but first I’m going to force you to watch while I burn your house down’ glint, but a friendly gleam, one that showed that he was clearly amused. For a second he was afraid he was about to receive the roast of a lifetime when he suddenly responded.

“Talking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date?”

It took a few ticks for the jab to register in his mind. Then he spluttered. “I- Wh-” Whatever Lance had expected, it was definitely not that. He was absolutely sure that his face was a color akin to the Red Lion. An obvious giveaway, but he definitely was in no position to form a coherent sentence. “I mean-”

He was interrupted. “I’d like that.”

Lance slowly calmed down, realizing what Keith had just said. “Really?” He was suddenly overwhelmed with positive emotion. “Awesome!” He started dancing around, hopping from one foot to the other, brimming with newfound energy.

Keith just rolled his eyes and chuckled, but then crossed his arms with a playful smirk. “So… Where are you taking us?”

Lance abruptly stopped and blinked a few times before deflating and awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “I dunno, actually, I honestly didn’t think I’d get this far.”

Keith shut his eyes and let out a genuine laugh for the first time in what felt like ages. The glee was contagious. The two tilted their heads back and roared with laughter until they were forced to double over and collapse on the ground, tears of joy streaming down their faces, not caring about anyone who might have been passing by at that moment.

(Unbeknownst to the pair, hidden behind a wall, Pidge sighed in defeat as she handed a grinning Hunk a twenty-dollar bill, having lost a bet on when the two would get together, and not too far away, Shiro looked on as if he were a proud father.)

 

 

Lance may not have had any clue about where he was headed after returning to Earth, but now he at least knew where to start.

**Author's Note:**

> I had NO clue what I was doing writing this tbh, I wrote the majority of it at 10 at night soooo. This is a bit of what I'm hoping for if klance were to actually become canon (it WILL i'm telling you,,) but I'll take anything, I just want them to interact again ha. Hope you like it. Comment/kudos for more silly shenanigans.


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